Day 66: Beech

Bussey Hill, Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, MA, 8:15am-8:45am
cool, various clouds

I missed sunrise today due to an alarm clock snafu - accidentally set for PM instead of AM. Sabotage by my sub-conscious?

Birds of the Day are a flock of twitterers I've encountered before on Bussey Hill. They are little, dark grey with yellow beaks, and very skittish.


However, the highlight of the morning is really the Tree of the Day, and week, and maybe month. It's new to me, and it's right on Bussey Hill: a gorgeous, gargantuan grandpa of a beech tree that has no less than five major trunks, and several offshoot trees growing around it.

I love the silvery-grey sleek skin of beeches, even when riddled with carvings and scars. One offshoot, emerging several feet from the main tree, is growing at such an acute angle to the ground it looks like the sixth branch of the tree which got buried under an avalanche of soil.

At home, I sketch a tune interweaving five melodies, one for each trunk of the beech tree.